Sunday, February 24, 2008
3 Dives: Yukon/Ruby E/NOSC Tower
Date: Saturday, February 23, 2008
Dive Times: 11:30 AM/3:18 PM
Location: Wreck Alley, Mission Beach: Yukon, Ruby E. and NOSC Tower
Maximum depths: 85 feet/60 feet, respectively.
Surface Conditions: surface chop, occasional white cap, due to 12 to
15 knot winds, otherwise good conditions.
Visibility: 12 to 15 feet
Temperature: 54°
Critters seen: Huge schools of Blacksmith fish, Surfperch,
Greenlings, Red and Brown Gorgonians, Macrocystis, Gobies, Giant
Spined Starfish and a Mola Mola [!]
Remarks:
With a 24 our 'Storm Window' between Friday's rain storm and the one
which is on its way tonight and threatening to bring 20 ft seas, we
decided that Saturday would be a great day to do the Ruby E and the
Tower with Merrianne, Navy Dan, 'Iron Man' Charlie and NOOA Jim.
Yukon:
The sky was sunny and blue as we motored out on the trusty Scuba Do to
Wreck Alley. We were also on a special mission for NOAA Jim,
attempting to recover something very dear to his heart [and very
expensive] that he had lost on the Yukon the previous weekend.
Although a charter boat was already tide up to the mooring line when
we got there, after a short wait, they gather their divers up and left
and we tide up to the Forward Guns.
'Iron Man' Charlie with his scooter and Jim, on a borrowed one,
jumped in and began their hunt. Navy Dan, Merrianne and I had decided
to sit this out out.
Not 15 minutes later, NOAA Jim popped to the surface, yelling and
mumbling something unintelligible into his regulator; as I leaned
forward to better hear what he was trying to say, he removed the
regulator from his mouth and promptly aimed a stream of projectile
vomit in my direction, which whizzed by my head and landed harmlessly
in the water next to the boat. [I told him later he really needs to
work on his aim.]
When his stomach was done evacuating, due to surface chop seasickness,
he yelled out that he had found his scooter under the Yukon.
Naturally he was overjoyed at his discovery and so were the rest of
us. I actually felt guilty, because I never thought he would find it,
thinking as I had, that it would've been halfway to Tijuana by now in
the open ocean currents. Turns out it had lodged amidships in the
sand, right where he had found it.
With such an upbeat start to the day, we all motored over to the Ruby
E., to begin our first official dive of the day, with Jim happily
ranting and raving over his good fortune and having found his long
lost scooter, with video camera and Nite Rider lights still
functioning perfectly. We all had to agree that the SCUBA gods were
certainly smiling favorably on him today.
Ruby E:
I had been given a task to gather some topographical data on the ruby
E for a project that Barbara is working on, so Merrianne, Navy Dan and
I suited up and wasted no time jumping in. And Jim and Charlie had
decided to sit this one out and wait for the Tower
Upon arrival on the Ruby E, we found the visibility was not that bad
and the little ship glowed neon pink in the early afternoon sunlight,
due to being covered by strawberry anemones.
Clutching a wicked looking spear gun, Navy Dan went off to hunt for
dinner and Merrianne and I split off to explore the ship. We started
at the bow and made our way forward, toward the wheelhouse.
The deck of the Ruby E was covered in red and brown Gorgonians,
wafting gently in the current, along with huge schools of Blacksmith
fish, which practically covered the entire wreck, and parted like a
curtain to lead us through.
Of course I promptly did the one thing and I had advised Navy Dan not
to do, which was descend down into one of the many holds in the deck,
now rusting and corroded in many areas, leaving sharp and menacing
edges sticking up in several places.
But with Merrianne hovering above me in a motherly fashion, I felt
safe going down. Inside the holds a thick layer of sand had built up
on the bottom, making it easy to stir things up, without meaning to,
so I was careful to not use my fans for propulsion, but pulled myself
along, carefully, hand- over-hand.
Warty and California Sea Cucumbers dotted the walls inside the holds.
I was careful not to disturb them and create the much dreaded [by
them] 'sea cucumber avalanche' inside the ship.
After carefully gliding upward and out of the hold using only my BC
for gentle buoyancy control, Merrianne and I proceeded down to the
wheelhouse, where I turned my attention to gathering the data I had
come to take.
We had fun gliding in and out of the wheelhouse, and playing
peek-a-boo with the huge schools of Blacksmith fish, which flitted
this way and that, all around the ship in the current, nibbling at
unseen morsels of food in the water column.
We made our way to Ward's the stern, where the buoy line no longer had
a buoy attached to it and then made our way back towards the bow and
did this several times, while I gathered my data, and then we headed
up the line toward the surface, having had a productive and satisfying
dive.
For more on this divesite, see: http://www.cawreckdivers.org
NOSC Tower:
Navy Dan never found suitable prey on the Ruby, so was eager to dive
the Tower, a popular site for local fishermen.
Upon arrival, we tide up to the buoy, suited up and jumped in, with
'Ironman' Charlie and Jim and doing the first dive, and Merrianne,
Navy Dan and I, the second.
Descending down the line towards the tower, we could see long strands
of giant kelp coming off the top and large schools of surf perch
swimming in and through the crossbeams.
Upon arrival on the bottom we saw the usual assortment of giant Spined
starfish all heaped on top of one another as if in a giant orgy, with
brown Gorgonians scattered everywhere and the same large schools of
Blacksmith fish we had seen on the Ruby E.
As we began our circumnavigation of the tower in a counterclockwise
fashion, we saw Navy Dan pointing towards the surface….. following
his finger, we looked up and saw a juvenile Mola Mola hovering in the
water column about 20 feet above us.
As I ascended slowly in the water column to check him out, I could see
him glance worriedly down at me, perhaps wondering who this predator
was coming at him. But since I was not the one with the spear gun,
he had nothing to fear and Navy Dan knew better than to try and spear
him because of their reputation of being a lousy meal. We wouldn't
have let him do it anyway, to such a delightful and comical creature
of the deep.
After checking out the Mola Mola, we descended back down toward the
tower and resumed our counterclockwise circumnavigation. Large
schools of surf perch seemed to mingle with a Blacksmith as curtains
of fish parted to lettuce through the water.
We checked out the abundant sessile and Gorgonians attached to all the
many iron cross bars lying scattered along the bottom. There were
also many barred sand bass cruising along the bottom, trying to avoid
all the mono filament and hooks dangling from the crossbar is of the
tower, indicating what a popular the fishing site this is for local
San Diego fishermen.
Ironically, despite all the fish around us Navy Dan never did find
suitable prey to bring home to his wife for dinner, since he was
looking for the sheep head of a particular a minimum size and we
appreciated the fact that he was a discriminating hunter and didn't
just shoot at anything that moved.
After about 45 minutes of this, we all began to feel the late
afternoon cold, due to leaky seals, and reluctantly began heading
towards the surface.
We clambered aboard the Scuba Do happy and content and having had a
satisfying day of diving.
And no one was more happy than NOAA Jim!
[For more on the NOSC Tower, see:
http://www.saintbrendan.com
Dive safe, everyone,
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride on the Yukon
Location: Yukon, Wreck Alley
Time: 11:40 AM
Dive length: 40 minutes
Surface conditions: strong northwest swell, 12 to 15 second intervals
Visibility: 5 to 10 feet
Maximum depth: 92 feet
Temperature: 54°
Critters seen: huge schools of Blacksmith fish, Senioritas, Surf Perch, California Sea Cucumbers, Hermissenda crassicornis, Giant Kelp….
I knew that we would have some decent swell on the way out, when I checked the northwest swell models this morning. This was confirmed, after picking up Kathy, ‘Iron Man’ Charlie and NOOA Jim and at the dock, when we headed out Mission Bay channel and saw some pretty sizable 5 foot swells crashing against the rocks creating some pretty spectacular whitewater on either side of the jetty, on our way out.
So it came as no surprise when, upon surfacing from their first dive on the Yukon this morning, Jim and Charlie gave us a friendly warning that Kathy and I were in for a pretty rough ride on Lady Yuke.
We had seen the slow lazy swells rolling in at about 15 second intervals as we waited on the deck of the Scuba Do for Charlie and Jim to surface.
Sure enough, when Kathy and I arrived on the Yukon after descending down the Forward Guns decent line, the surge was in full swing: we could see huge schools of Blacksmith fish being pushed first one way and then the other on the deck. It was almost comical…
The plan was to head towards the Captain’s Bridge and play around there for while, and then head back, which is what we did, knowing that trying to swim the full length of the ship under these conditions, would probably not be a great idea.
Visibility was a dark and murky 5 to 10 feet, where about all you can see were strange dark shapes looming ahead of you, not really sure what they were in the gloom.
However, we were able to identify where the ascent line attached to the Forward Guns, and make our way slowly, hand over hand toward the Captain’s Bridge.
The cutouts into the ship’s hull were exhibiting dramatic “Push me—Pull you” suction and surge: as you would swim by one, the surge would come blasting out and pushing back about 3 feet, then a pause, and the section would begin, pulling you like a giant vacuum cleaner into the ship’s dark interior.
Of course, by keeping a healthy distance from the cutouts, you avoided being sucked in or spat out.
Kathy , who is a PADI Instructor, later surprised me by saying she actually tells her students in the wreck diving classes she teaches, that if they get accidentally sucked into the Yukon, to simply wait 15 seconds or so, and they will be promptly spat out again.
I had already decided that I wasn’t going to be testing that theory today, and hence I kept my distance from the cutouts.
As we made our way toward the Captain’s Bridge, huge schools of blacksmith fish seem to shadow us, as we all rocked back and forth in the surge together as one.
Arriving at the bridge and slightly further on, Milt’s Tilt, we lingered for a while, admiring the bright snowy white canopy of Metridia and which cover this area. Surprisingly, here the visibility actually picked up a bit, to about 10 feet.
At this point, I gave the signal to begin heading back to the bow, and we began returning to whence we came.
Returning to the Forward gun area, we found that the closer we came to the bow, the stronger the surge. We made the mistake of ascending slightly near the cutout dolphin area, only to find that Mr. Surge was trying to sweep us completely off the decks altogether; the solution here we found, was to simply grab onto any protruding metal object, such as a gun barrel, and hang on for dear life.
It was also here, that we could see rather vividly, the affects of this northwest swell on the Yukon: the kelp on the starboard bow area was rippling in the current at about a 45 degree angle.
And when I say ‘rippling,’ perhaps I should say ‘ripping,’ because the tips of the kelp were a blur of motion in the surge.
At this point, we had no trouble agreeing that it was probably time to end the dive and we began a leisurely ascent and for the surface and friendlier conditions.
We were careful not to ever, ever, let go of the line, for fear of being swept away and deposited ungracefully on the shores of Mission Bay, 1.8 miles away.
We climbed aboard the Scuba Do, agreeing that while it had been a stimulating and educational experience in the power of Mother Nature, it was probably sufficient diving for one day.
We are supposed to be taking out someone tomorrow for their first dive on the Yukon; I will have to examine conditions carefully before deciding if this will be a good idea or not.
Dive safe everyone, and remember: respect Mommie Nature and her power, for even Southern California has winter conditions.
Note: this dive report was dictated into voice recognition software.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Photos from Broomtail Reef Dive on Saturday [See Dive Report Below]
Here are Jim Swanson's cool photos from our dive, below:
--[Click on 'Slideshow' and the photos will be displayed in a timed sequence for you]
Click Here-->http://tinyurl.com/38n7r7
Enjoy!
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Rockin' and Rollin' in Broomtail Reef, Pt. Loma
Date: Saturday: 2/9/08
2 Dives:
Purpose: Recreational
Location: Broomtail Reef, Pt Loma
Environment: Kelp Forest
Dive Times: 11:45 am/2:30 pm
Dive Lengths: 50 mins/45 mins
Visibility: on the bottom: 15-20 ft./at safety stop depth., only about 3-5 ft.
Max Depths: 80 ft/83 ft.
Temps: 52 F/51 F.
Mixes: 29%/36%
Critters Seen:
Giant Spined Star, Bat Star, Sunflower Star, Fragile Star, Blood Star, Leather Star, Purple Sea Urchin, Red Sea Urchin, California Sea Cucumber, Warty Sea Cucumber, Club-tipped Anemone, Aggregating Anemone, White-spotted Rose Anemone, Anemone: Urticina mcpeaki, Cup Corals, Red Gorgonian, California Golden Gorgonian, Hermissenda crassicornis, Macrocystis pyrifera, huge schools of Jack mackerel [?] in the upper levels of Kelp.
I can't tell you how good it was to get back in the water again, after 3 weeks of utter dryness. With Barb recovering nicely from some recent neck surgery, I was given the keys to the boat and good-naturedly booted out of the house, with strict orders not to come back until I had thoroughly submerged myself in salt water for a prolonged period of time......like all day.
I will be the first to admit there there are worse fates.
I guess I was driving everyone nuts after 3 weekends in a row, ensconced in front of the TV with a remote, waiting out the recent back-to-back storms, mumbling under my breath about the fates and not being able to dive.
At the dock, I picked up NOAA Jim, 'Iron Man' Charlie [heretofore to be known as the Scooter Twins] and Jimbo..........all of whom had been driving their friends and respective spouses nuts as well, apparently, and who were equally eager to get back in the water.
After a brief and slightly surreal stop at the gas dock, where I stuck the gas nozzle into the tank, looked up and noticed that the office where we normally pay for the gas had disappeared –as in, literally, no longer there –it was apparently under construction and had moved up hill a ways, just out of sight.
After resolving that minor issue, about where to pay for the gas, the gods had another surprise in store for us, when the engine wouldn't start, due to vapor lock.
A bit of fiddling around [and a few fervent prayers hurled in their general direction], resolved the problem, and we were on our way.
We motored out under blue, sunny skies and arrived forthwith at Broomtail Reef, much to everyone's relief: it was time to get wet.
It was decided that the Scooter Twins would go down first and scout the terrain, which they did and came back about an hour later, happy as clams and reporting decent conditions.
Jimbo and I wasted no time suiting up jumping in.
We descended happily down through the kelp fronds and arrived on the bottom, where the plan was basically to head West and check out the terrain.
We started off on a fairly flat bottom at around 50 feet, which sloped gently downward to around 80 feet or so, as we headed Westward.
Now normally a dive to only 80 feet would be borrrrrrrrring……….. But today, after so long out of the water, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning –it was so great to be back in the kelp forest!
As we kicked along, we came across huge rocky pinnacles, jutting 10 to 15 feet or more from the bottom, with long fronds of kelp on top, reaching up to the surface high above, with large overhangs going back 5 to 8 feet along the bottom, with stupendous amounts of marine life everywhere.
Red, black and purple sea urchins littered the bottom everywhere, along with Giant Spined starfish, Bat Stars, huge Sunflower Stars the size of garbage can lids, Fragile Stars, Blood Stars, Leather Stars, yellow sponges, orange sponges, red volcano sponges, along with huge schools of blacksmith fish, which flitted about and around the pinnacles.
Jimbo and I simply went from rocky pinnacle to rocky pinnacle, exploring the many and colorful sights to be seen.
We did this until our tanks ran embarrassingly low on gas, before reluctantly turning around and heading back to the boat.
I had warned Jimbo that he would be babbling when he got back on the boat, and sure enough he was –and so was I.
Dive #2: [Actual #751]
By the time we all had had our surface intervals and eaten our lunches it was 2:30 PM and conditions had changed dramatically.
After the scooter twins surfaced from their dive, Jimbo and I descended to very different conditions. The tides were changing and the afternoon Point Loma swells were rolling in.
This time, Jimbo and I headed South, to look for NOAA Jim's lost yellow goodie bag, which he had lost earlier, and to explore the terrain South of the boat.
As we descended down through the kelp, we noticed it was leaning at a rather steep angle: swaying first 45° one way, and then the other: this was going to be interesting.
Arriving on the bottom, it was like being picked up by a Giant Hand, and first being flung one way, for 5 to 8 feet, and then, being flung the same distance the other way. We found ourselves hanging on for dear life, just to make any progress all along the bottom.
By a combination of kicking and crawling along the bottom with our hands, we manage to make our way southward at a snail's pace.
Our progress was impeded by the fact that each time the Giant Hand picked one of us up, it would usually hurl us into a thick frond of kelp, from which we would have to painstakingly disentangle ourselves before proceeding on.
Nonetheless, we manage to make some progress Southward, along the bottom, until we came to some spectacular drop offs, at which point the Giant Hand would hurl us bodily over the precipice, where we would be forced to dump air from our BCs, in order to land safely on the bottom, some 20 feet below, where we would spend as much time as we could exploring the fascinating crevices and overhangs, so replete with the marine life mentioned above, before being picked up again and flung about.
After about 20 minutes of this, however, we decided that it was in our best interest not to stray too far from the boat in these conditions, and I gave the signal to turn around, and Jimbo was in full agreement.
We made our way back to the boat with the same painstaking process of crawling along the bottom until the Giant Hand would pick us up and hurl us into some kelp, where we would disentangle ourselves and move on.
Make no mistake that, despite these conditions, the scenery was gorgeous, with huge clumps of kelp all around us, reaching toward the surface, swaying 45° one way, and then back again 45° the other way, like a giant underwater ballet, which we could not help admire, despite its frightening power.
As we began gently gliding upward towards the boat, huge schools of silver fish, perhaps jack mackerel, flashed by us, moving at lightning speed, flitting first this way and then that way, like a long silvery freight train driven by a mysterious, unseen force.
We surfaced, awed by the power of mother nature, as well as by the beauty of the underwater world we had just left.
[This dive report dictated into voice recognition software.]
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